Attachment 4

Military Science Minor – ASCRC Review 2003

1.The minor does not have enough academic
substance. There is insufficient depth
in the courses offered to non-contracted students.

·The minor requires only 9 credits of MS
courses. If the minor is to consist of
the bare minimum of credits allowable (18) then nearly all (perhaps 15) of
these should be MS-centered or directly related to the discipline and include
upper-division courses.

·The minor does not offer non-contracted students a
broad enough range of MS courses

·It is unclear why the selection of MS courses in
the minor cannot be broadened to include some, or all, of the courses currently
offered only to contracted students.

·The list of MS courses in the minor available to
non-contracted students is now made up mostly of lower-division and Special
Topic courses. MS 402 (Officership
and Ethics) is the only clearly academic upper-division course on the list, and
it is not required. Currently it is
restricted to contracted students. Since MS 404 (National Advanced Leadership
Course) is not really available to the non-contracted students it should not be
listed.

·It should not be left open to students where they
fulfill their upper-division requirements.
As things stand, they can take their six U/D credits all from either
history or political science. They need take no upper division MS courses at
all.

·The list of history and political science courses
is too long and includes courses that are only marginally relevant. If we are
talking about 18 credits then all courses should be directly related to the
minor.

2.The proposal is poorly written and is incoherent in
places. The feedback provided during
last year’s discussion was not incorporated fully into the proposal, partly
because of a junior faculty turn-over and the absence of the Colonel. Recommendations:

·The
proposal should be drafted from the academic perspective (the mission of the
University/Liberal Arts) not Military Science. Provide a justification as to
why the University and contracted/non-contracted students would benefit from
the minor.

·Evidence
should be given as to how Military Science Minors at other institutions are
structured and how the process was received by academic governance.

·There
should be meetings with the faculty from the departments involved; outcomes of
these meetings should be explained in the proposal.

·Proposals
from other minors should be used as a model.

3.Historically the program includes a limit of 6
credits toward a bachelor degree for non-contracted students. Contracted students are allowed 24
credits. This limit would need to be
modified and more courses made available to non-contracted students.

4.A
possible alternative approach would be to cast the minor in terms of “military
studies.” This could conceivable consist
of equal components of military science, political science, and history. Two courses each perhaps. This minor could
be integrated into the ROTC commission training and curriculum, and it could be
available to non-ROTC students also.
Perhaps such a minor would serve as an even stronger, indeed, more
academically viable, certification for ROTC and other students to add to their
resumes.